


Dimension Jumper

by hntrgurl13



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: First of many, Gf oc - Freeform, Other, kinda just writing this to expand this particular au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2019-01-04 06:24:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12163293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hntrgurl13/pseuds/hntrgurl13
Summary: Things go haywire after a not so successful Portal trial.





	1. The Portal

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place in the Dimension Jumper AU that I made for my OC Adeline Marks. This will be the whole narrative of that AU.

Adeline took a deep breath. 

Today’s the day...

That’s right. Today would be the day they finally discovered what was on the other end of the Portal. They’d finally see what came out of all the hard work they had done. 

Addi had been Stanford Pines’s assistant for a couple of years before this crazy plan had magically appeared in his mind. She had thought he was simply stressed and losing it. But soon enough, plans were coming together, calculations made, checked and rechecked, his college friend Fiddleford arrived with his skills in mechanics, Adeline herself helped in the design and physics of the Portal and possible dimensional communication and travel, and now they were here. She stared at the behemoth contraption in awe. This was what they were waiting for, the chance to finally make a lasting difference for the better of all mankind. Imagine the possibilities of being able to travel to other dimensions! Of being able to expand one’s own knowledge of the outside world and galaxies like theirs and others’! 

She could feel her hands shaking as she put on her expedition attire, specially designed and made by Stanford for almost any situation that could possibly be waiting for her on the other side of that light. 

“It shouldn’t be anything serious, but it doesn’t hurt to be safe. Just in case.” Stanford was confident and almost giddy as he helped her into the suit. He was probably the most excited out of the entire trio. Who could blame him? This was his life’s work finally coming to fruition. He had wanted to be the person to actually cross the barrier and witness the other dimension but after the dummy test went well, they had all decided it’d be better if it were someone they could easily pull back in if something went wrong. And with that, Adeline Marks was chosen to be the first interdimensional traveler in their world. 

She let out a nervous breathe as he zipped up the final layer of the outfit. 

“Nervous?” Ford rested his hand gently on her shoulder, reassuring her as best he could.

“Is it that obvious? Not everyday you get to jump into the unknown and hope nothing bad happens...” Addi shook her torso a bit as if it’d knock some of the stress off her. 

Ford let out a little chuckle at her comment. 

“I’m nervous too. But I promise nothing bad is going to happen. We’ve taken every single kind of precaution and tested multiple times. And I have full faith in this. You’re the best person I could ever think of to do this. You’ll be perfectly fine.”

“Says you. That sounds like something someone says before something bad actually happens.” She smirked at him, causing him to blush softly before he did a few quick coughs. Addi enjoyed how much of a dork her friend was, so easily flustered but quick to keep it cool. She found it adorable. Especially since this is the same genius that brought on all of this. 

“I swear that you’ll walk away from this in one piece, Adeline.” 

“Pinky swear?”

Ford was a little shocked at the sudden inclusion of their little bit. Although childish, it did help both of them feel better about things. It was something between just the two of them, their special “thing”. He looked over to make sure Fiddleford wasn’t able to see them before he laced his pinky finger with hers. 

“I don’t know why you always insist on doing this...”

“It just makes me feel better.” She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before walking on ahead. 

Ford blushed and rubbed his cheek stubbornly before following. 

Fiddleford stepped up to the two and put a headset on Adeline. 

“Okay, this is connected to our walkie. While you’re in there, keep talking to us so we know everything is okay.” Fiddleford puts a belt around Addi’s waist and tugs at the rope attached to it. “This rope will keep ya connected to us. If something happens and ya want us to pull ya back, give it a good tug. We’ll get ya back as quickly as possible. Okay?” He was letting his anxiety get the better of him.

“Thanks, Fiddleford. I appreciate it, but you need to relax a bit. I’m already nervous enough for all of us.” She motioned to his jittery leg hopping like crazy.

“Oh! Right. Sorry. I’m sure you are. Sorry...” He twiddled his thumbs while taking a few deep breaths. “Okay... I’m calm... This is going to go well and everything is going to be great...”

“Right. We’ve checked, rechecked and triple checked our calculations. It’ll go just fine. And if not, then we have a plan for that too.” Ford smiled and clapped his hands together. “Okay! Let’s make our mark in scientific history!” 

Addi let out one last deep breath and puts on her goggles and air supply. She looked back at her friends and gave them a firm thumbs up. Ford smiled and returned the gesture, giving her the go ahead to step into their future. 

Adeline squeezed her eyes tightly and jumped into the Portal’s pull, letting it carry her away into whatever world awaited her on the other side. 

a few minutes later -

She hit the ground with a sudden and painful thud, almost cracking her goggles and knocking her mouth piece off. 

“Oh crud!” Addi quickly went after the thing before realizing it was no longer needed. She could breath perfectly fine in this strange place. 

“Fiddleford? Stanford? You there? Can you hear me?” She tapped the ear of the communicator as nothing but static can be heard. “Hello?” Nothing. Addi let out a groan before finally taking a look at her surroundings. 

She had always tried to imagine what another dimension would look like. Maybe it’d be like something out of a Star Trek episode or perhaps just something identical to their own world. Or even like the latest Star Wars film. But this wasn’t at all what she expected. It was dark and murky. Everything looked like it was melting and in pieces. The largest amount of light seemed to be coming from a glowing yellow triangle. There were other creatures she had only seen in her nightmares. Addi felt her heart beating anxiously as the fear started to set in. She started to back away quietly towards the rift when an eye suddenly formed from the triangle. Adeline gasped as she saw dark limbs extend out of it along with what appeared to be a top hat.

“Well well well, fellas!” 

The voice that came from the glowing being was nasaled and almost screaming. The creatures huddled around this new monster and gave him their full attention. Addi kept eye contact with the meeting while keeping her steady pace towards her exit. 

“The day’s finally coming that we’ll be rid of this dump and have a new dimension to call ours! All this time of kissing up to that six-fingered freak will finally pay off!”

Addi stopped at the mention of her friend. It was then that she suddenly recognized the voice coming from the geometrical creature. She felt her blood run cold and her heart skip a beat. That thing was none other than the muse that Ford had so compassionately spoken about to her when he had first gotten the idea for the Portal. The one that she didn’t believe existed until he took over her companion’s body and called her “Blondie”. The one with those awful yellow slit eyes...

“B-Bill...” 

“Soon we’ll be living it up in our new pad! Causing all kinds of chaos and destruction! Just wait till ya see the look on IQ’s face! It’ll be priceless! And the best part is that he’s doing all this WILLINGLY! What a moron! Just give him a few compliments and he’ll believe ANYTHING you say to him! But I should give him some credit. Without him, the end of the world wouldn’t be right around the cor-!”

Addi let out a small grunt as she tripped and fell on her back. But it was enough to get Bill’s attention. 

“We-he-hell! Isn’t this INTERESTING!” He closed in on Addi in the blink of an eye, startling her and making her instinctively put her arm up for protection from him and the bright light radiating off him. “If it isn’t my favorite gal pal, Blondie! What brings you to our neck of the multiverse?”

She was a deer caught in the headlights. Her body refused to move and fear seeped into every molecule of her being. Adeline Marks was nothing more than an ant facing down a child with a magnifying glass to Bill. 

Whether it was anger or stupidity, something caused her to put on a brave face and find her voice.

“We decided to take a peek at what was on the other side of the Portal a little early. And good thing too! You can just forget about your little “plan”, Billy. Once I tell Stanford what you’re REALLY planning for this thing, it’s over. We’ll dismantle the device and you can kiss your “new pad” goodbye!” She could feel her body shaking slightly. She couldn’t be more afraid.

“Hmmm... I guess that does throw a pretty large wrench in my plan...” Bill floated around as if in contemplation. He circled around Addi like the Moon around the Earth. “But...that’d require you actually making it back to tell him wouldn’t it? I mean, accidents DO happen, after all. It’d be a shame if that little monster’s mommy suddenly didn’t make it home...” 

Addi went silent. The only thing keeping her tethered to her world was a rope. The rope... 

“Ford would figure out what you really are... What you did... He’d shut it down on his own... You’re done, no matter what you try and do...” She wrapped the rope around her hand while Bill was distracted.

“Oh please. I’ve got Fordsy wrapped around my finger. You really think he’d believe that little ole me had anything to do with your disappearance? This is his life’s work! He isn’t stopping anything!” 

“We’ll see.” Addi tugged the rope hard and saw it starting to be pulled back in. She started running back towards the rift.

“WHAT THE-?! GET HER! DEAD OR ALIVE!” Bill angrily screamed as his goons went after Addi. He began shooting what looked like lasers in her direction, narrowly missing her with each shot.

“COME ON! HURRY UP AND GET ME BACK THERE, GUYS!” The rope was quickly being pulled back in as she ran closer and closer. Addi looked up and jumped out of the way of a large fist slamming on the ground. Her heart raced as she fought to keep going. “COME ON!”

on the other side -

“COME ON! PULL HARDER!” Ford could feel the sweat dripping down his brow as he and Fiddleford tugged at the rope. 

Addi had almost been gone for an hour when the sudden motion of the rope happened. The two men went into full rescue mode at that. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This was supposed to be a safe mission. Addi had pulled on the rope frantically. Whatever was on the other side was bad enough to scare her...

“I KNEW WE SHOULDA WAITED!”

“SHUT UP AND PULL!” Ford didn’t like yelling at his friend, but his fear was getting to him. What if Addi was hurt or worse...

The two men grunted and groaned as they pulled in the rope. They fell back as Addi finally fell out of the blue light.

“Addi?!” Stanford ran over to her and started inspecting to see if she was hurt only to be suddenly hugged by the woman. 

Addi sniffled and hugged him tighter.

“Addi? What’s wrong? What happened? What did you see?” Ford couldn’t help himself when it came to finding out about what new world was on the other side. He almost didn’t register Addi’s shaking. “Adeline?”

“You have to shut it down.”

“What? Shut it down?”

“Yes! You HAVE to shut down the Portal! If you don’t, it’ll be the end of our world! We have to destroy it before it destroys us all!” She seemed hysterical. Ford was shocked she’d even suggest such a thing.

“We can’t shut it down, it’s my life’s work! What happened in there? Tell me!” He could feel the anger in his voice. How could she say such things? They had all worked so hard on this! Put in so many days and sleepless nights all for this! This was going to make their mark on mankind and she wanted him to shut it down?!

“Ford... Calm down...” Fiddleford pleaded as he put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. Ford quickly shrugged it off angrily.

“No! She wants us to shut down the one thing that will change the course of mankind as we know it! How could I possibly be calm?!”

“Stanford, you don’t understand! Bill isn’t-!” Addi was interrupted by a sudden gravitational burst, sending the three of them into the air. 

Luckily, it was a short hiccup. 

Unluckily, it was enough to send Adeline back into the pull of the Portal. It had also caused a malfunction with the device, making it’s pull much more intense than anything they had ever experienced.

“STANFORD!” She screamed for him with a terrified look on her face, trying to figure someway out of the rift’s grasp.

“Oh no!” Ford grabbed the rope and tried pulling Addi back into safety. He could feel the heel of his shoes digging and being dragged in the ground. He looked back up at her and saw the tears in her eyes. Ford had never seen her so frightened...

“Fiddleford! Help me!” The southern scientist rejoined, wrapping his arms around Ford’s center and pulled as hard as he could. 

“Don’t worry, Addi! We’ve got ya!” 

*ri-i-i-ip*

Ford paled when he heard the sound. He didn’t even have to see it to know what was happening. His eye’s slowly lowered to the source. His eyes widened as a nightmare became reality. The chord was ripping...

“PULL HARDER!” He couldn’t lose her! He had promised she’d walk away from this! He felt the panic start to set into his chest as they kept trying to pull their friend back to them. 

“DON’T LET ME GO! PLEASE!” The tears where coming down full force now, being pulled into the Portal. The fear in her voice made Ford even more panicked for her. Whatever she had seen had caused this and Addi didn’t want to go back to it. 

They kept pulling and pulling, finally closing the distance between them. Ford could almost reach out to her now. Small droplets of water started to gravitate in front of Stanford, surprising him for just a moment. He didn’t realize he was crying too. The rope was still tearing. If it ripped anymore...

“TAKE MY HAND!” Stanford extended his six fingered hand for Adeline. He could pull her right into his arms if she could reach him. “ADDI, TAKE MY HAND!”

Addi reached out for him, barely unable to fully reach him. There wasn’t even an inch of air between them. “I CAN’T!”

Ford tried to pull the rope more with Fiddleford. The pull of the rift was too strong now. There was no way they’d be able to bring her closer.

“YOU HAVE TO! COME ON!” Stanford stretched out as much as he could. He could touch just the tips of Adeline’s fingers. “Just a little more...”

Addi gave him a small hopeful smile as she reached farther for him. She’d make it out of this. She’d be okay. She’d-

SNAP! 

Adeline’s face went pale as she was being forcefully dragged back into the rift, the rope cut and flying freely in the empty space. Things seemed to suddenly go in slow motion. She didn’t dare take her eyes off Stanford, not for a moment. It’d probably be the last time she saw him. He was screaming something incoherently. It was all just white noise to her, nothing more than soft static as the light of the Portal consumed her. She was still reaching out for him as she felt to cold sting of the opening surround her body. 

“STANFORD!”

“NO! ADELINE!” Ford fought with Fiddleford as he watched her be sucked into his creation. As she disappeared into the rift, the machine started malfunctioning and letting out electric bursts. “NOOOOO!” 

“STANFORD STOP! IT’S TOO DANGEROUS!” Fiddleford held his friend back as best he could. He couldn’t lose both his friends in one day.

The Portal let out a few more bursts of electricity before shutting off entirely. Fiddleford finally let go of Stanford, who rushed to the Portal. But it was too late.

Adeline was gone.


	2. The Chase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trapped in a nightmare, Addi is pursued by Bill and his henchmaniacs.

Buh-bump! Buh-bump! Buh-bump!

Adeline felt her heart beating in her ears as she ran. Her chest hurt, she could taste blood in her mouth. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the wind she was creating whipped past her. The sound of yelling and heavy feet followed after her. 

“First one to bring me Blondie gets their own dimension!” Bill’s shrill voice echoed across the emptiness. 

When Addi had been pulled back into the Nightmare Realm, Bill and his goons were waiting for her. He snatched her up the second she fell out, like she was nothing more than a troublesome rodent. She felt her heart drop as she watched the rift leading back to her dimension vanish into nothing. She was trapped here. 

“Well well well! So nice of you to rejoin us, Blondie! We missed you!” Snickers break out amongst the other monsters. Bill laughed along with them and began petting her with his enormous finger. 

“Now... what to do with you?... I could just pop your head off like a bottle cap... Or I could just eat you... but you’d probably give me indigestion... I might just keep you as my personal slave. Might wanna keep you around in case Fordsy gets cold feet. Nothin’ like a little motivation to keep the hamster on the wheel, eh, Blondie?” Bill laughed again with his hoard until Adeline chomped on his finger hard.

“GAAAAAAAUGH!!!” 

Bill quickly dropped the woman and held his hand in pain. Addi hit the ground and started running. The triangle went red with anger.

“YOU GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BRAT!!!” 

She didn’t dare look back at the monsters, even as they started shooting various weapons at her. Even when they started chasing her. A sharp pain hit her side and she fell to the ground. 

“HA! Gotcha!”, the demon exclaimed happily.

I can’t stop! I have to keep going! Get away from them! Stay alive!

Adeline quickly got up and ignored the pain. She turned a corner and stopped sharply at a cliff. Small rocks broke away from the edge as she looked into the space ahead of her. Addi held her side and weighed her options. There was a large bit of land floating a distance from her position. Could she make that jump? And even if she could, would she survive the impact? 

“There you are!” A large pink feminine looking creature came around the corner. She has flames coming from her boots and cape. She also had large horns and one eye. The abomination smirked as she stalked towards Adeline. “That dimension is mine!” She lunged at Addi, causing her to fall off the edge and right towards the new land.

Addi felt like she was weightless as she floated down towards the ground. It was like she was swimming. She wondered if this was what it was like to be in actual space among the stars. But her moment of serenity was short lived as she landed quickly and harshly. Gravity seemed to hit fast here.  
“GAW!” She held her side again in agony. Her wound was getting worse. 

“There she is! Get her!” 

Addi felt her heart accelerate in fear. She picked herself up and began sprinting, looking for any kind of safety. There was a small cave in her sights. If she could reach it, she’d be safe. 

An eightball-eyed creature landed right in her path followed by a enormous set of teeth with arms and legs.

“You aren’t goin’ anywhere, girly!” The teeth braced itself as Addi ran towards it. 

“W-we’ll see about that, you weirdos...” Addi thought quickly and hurtled over the teeth before sliding under the eightballed creatures long legs. 

“WHAT THE-?!” The creatures were baffled at the feet as Addi dove into the cave.

“OH NO YOU DON’T!” One of them started crashing against the entrance of the cave while the other started digging. 

“I can’t reach her!”

“Keep digging, idiot!” 

A large rumbling began to sound. Addi quickly tucked farther into the cave as the entrance caved in, sealing her out of their reach.

Adeline continued scooting backwards away from the rubble. Sweat dripped down her brow.

“DARN IT!”

“Well, at least we know where she is if she comes ou- OW!”

“YOU IDIOTS! NOW SHE COULD DIE IN THERE! I NEED HER ALIVE! GET TO DIGGING HER OUT!” Bill’s voice rang even through the stones. Addi could feel herself shake as the sound of digging started.

She quickly got up and kept moving farther into the cave. There had to be another way out. Another way out of this cave... Another way out of the dimension... Another way back home... Addi’s feet grew heavier with each step. Her mouth was dry with thirst. Unfortunately, her canteen had fallen off during the squabble earlier. 

Addi reached into her side bag and pulled out a glow stick, snapping and shaking it to use as a temporary lantern. The cave seemed to trail on with no end. She put her hand on the wall and continued her way down. 

Remembering her injury, Addi finally took a look at it. Two large gashes seemed to form from her side, blood pouring out of them. If she didn’t so something soon, she’d bleed out before she could die of starvation or dehydration. She sat against the wall and got out the first aid kit Fiddleford had packed for her just in case. Her heart ached at the thought of her friends... Addi bit her lip and applied disinfectant. The substance burned but it was nothing compared to what she had already been through. The bleeding slowed to a trickle as she wrapped her middle up. It’d keep her together, but it wouldn’t stop the bleeding entirely. Adeline needed to find a permanent solution soon. Her eyes started tearing up through the pain. But she wasn’t sure if it was from the pain of the wound or the pain of being ripped from her world. 

Addi began to trudge down the cave again, leaning against the wall for support as sweat dripped down her face. The air was hot and thick, making it difficult to breath. She kept walking for what seemed like hours when she thought she say the faint look of light down the tunnel. She walked faster.

Shadows started to dance against the wall as she kept going. The sudden sound of foreign whispers stopped her. She held her breath to stay quiet.

Addi could feel her heart sink. She had found another way out but Bill and his creeps were waiting for here there. She looked down at her patched up wound. There was no way she’d be able to run away full force without causing more damage to it. And she was far too weak from it to fight them off. She’d be caught and only be lucky if Bill decided to heal her. Then she knew she’d never get the chance to get out of here. She’d be trapped as Bill’s little puppet until Ford opened the Portal again. And then he’d kill her, seeing that she’s used up her usefulness. 

She started to back away when a rock lost it’s place and bounced loudly down towards the shadows. The whispers stopped. They had heard her. Addi started running when the glow quickly caught up to her. A bola quickly wrapped around her body, making it impossible for her to move. She hit the dirt with a thud as various sized beings surrounded her, yelling at her in their foreign tongue.

“I-I don’t understand... I’m just trying to get away... I just want to go home... Stanford...” She was too weak to struggle as she felt the wound gash open. Addi moaned in pain.

One of the taller shadows gasped and moved her over so she’s on her back, but she was still losing a lot of blood. Adeline’s vision started to blur as the creature started murmuring to the others. It began undoing the binds around her. 

“Safe...” was all the strange thing said as she finally drifted into unconsciousness.


	3. Newcomer in the Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adeline opens her eyes to see what awaits her.

The world was dark for a long time. Just an endless swirling mess of black and nightmares. Adeline tried to open her eyes to escape, to see anything other than the darkness. Her eyelids felt heavy...

“Addi? Are you okay?”

The voice was familiar and welcoming. Adeline finally opened her eyes slightly to look at the source of the sound. Her sight was blurry but it was him. Her closest friend right there by her side with a worried look on his face.

“Stanford...” Addi smiled weakly at him. Why was she so tired? She tried to remember the past events but nothing came to mind.

“It’s alright, Adeline. You’re safe now.” He smiled warmly at her.

Addi looked around the area. She was in her room in Ford’s house. Shifty was sleeping soundly at the foot of her bed while Ford had pulled up her desk stool to sit at her side. Everything was where it should be. Everything was right. But... why couldn’t she remember how she got here?

She tried to move. An excruciating shot of pain came from her side, making her double down and almost scream.

“Addi! You have to stay still! You really got hurt during the portal experiment. We were only lucky we were able to open it back up and get you out...”

“The... the portal?...” Addi sank back down into the pillows beneath her. Her head was pounding. She winced at the pressure. It only got worse as she started to recall what had happened. “Th-that’s right... I fell in... Couldn’t get out...”

“That’s correct... We thought we lost you... We were just lucky to get to you in time... Bill was a big help.” 

“Bill?...” 

“Yes. He helped us get to you. He got the portal calculations up to exactly where you were in the other dimension. We grabbed you quickly and got you out. You were really hurt...” Ford looked at her sadly. 

“Bill...” Addi’s eyes shot open widely in sudden realization as the memories came flooding back. 

The Nightmare Realm. Bill’s cronies. Addi running for her life. Her side being shot by Bill himself. Escaping into the cave. It was all coming back quickly and without mercy. Adeline’s heart was practically beating out of her chest in fear. Her body shook viciously. She couldn’t get the images of what all she saw out of her head. Tears started to fill her eyes. 

“Adeline? What’s wrong?” Ford rested his hand on her shoulder to try and calm his friend. It wouldn’t do much good.

Adeline looked up at him with pleading eyes. 

“Stanford... We can’t trust him... He’s a monster... What’s on the other side of the portal... It isn’t what you think it is! We have to destroy the portal! He’s going to destroy our entire world! He did this to me! He almost killed me!”

“Why would Bill try to do something like that?”

Addi was taken aback by the calmness in Ford’s voice. It was like he was listening to a child telling on someone for a minor thing rather than his assistant trying to warn him of the very serious danger that was on it’s way. 

“Stanford! Please! Listen to me! Bill isn’t what you think he is! He isn’t a muse! He’s a monster! He’s using you to get what he wants! Don’t you understand?! He’s going to-!” 

Addi was stopped in her tracks when she finally got a good look at his face. Her blood ran cold as yellow slit eyes starred back at her.

“Hmmm... Now what was that you were saying, Blondie? I’m a what?” 

Bill suddenly wrapped his hands around Adeline’s throat, pushing her deeper into her bed. She scratched and tried to fight him off, but she was too weak. He smiled evilly as he put more pressure on her windpipe.

“A monster? That doesn’t sound very nice. And after everything I’ve done for you fleshbags. I was going to let you live too! All you had to do was keep your mouth shut and everything would be fine and dandy. As long as Ford was happy, I’d be happy. But oh well.”

He added more pressure and laughed maniacally as Addi choked for air.

“Guess I’ll have to tell ole Fordsy the bad news. That his lovely little assistant died from her wounds. I tried. I really did. But there was just nothing I could do. Whatever got to her in the other dimension got her good. She just lost too much blood.”

Her vision started going black as Addi felt the life drain from her. Her hands grew weaker as her body begged for oxygen. She coughed as the final remnants of her life faded away.

“Heh, catch you on the flip side, Blondie. Don’t worry. Your little friends will be along shortly...”

... The world was dark for a long time...

... Just a swirling mess of black and nightmares...

“CLEAR!”

A sudden sharp pain penetrated Adeline’s chest as she sprang back to life. She gasped loudly as her senses came rushing back like the air in her lungs. She hacked and coughed, feeling like she was hit by a bus or two.

“She’s back!”

“Whew! Thought we lost you for a sec.”

Someone sighed in relief. “Hopefully that will stabilize her. I don’t believe we have enough of that elixir to bring her back again...”

Addi continued coughing, tasting blood in her mouth as she tried to focus her sight to see where the voices were coming from. None of them were familiar to her. She tried to pull herself up to get a better view before she was pushed down by gentle hands.

“You must remain still. If you move too much, you could reopen your wounds. You’ve already lost quite a lot of blood. We were lucky to have found you when we did.”

Adeline’s eyes finally started to focus. The dull light of the fire didn’t make it easy. At her side was a slim creature with large tired eyes. It looked similar to a salamander with large fins on the sides of its head with moss green and navy blue features. The rest of it’s body was mostly humanoid aside from the small claws on its’ hands and the large tail. Addi blinked and let her eyes trail to the others.

A small guinea pig-like creature was close by, shaking in what could be interpreted as either fear or excitement. It had an eye-patch and what looked to be a mechanical crane-like arm. It sniffed the air with it’s rather cute pink nose. 

“I-is she safe? I-is she a bad?” The creature asked it’s companions feverishly. Addi recognized it as the voice that proclaimed she was back.

“No, Chulin, it doesn’t appear that she is a “bad”, as you say. It appears she ran into our hiding spot while trying to escape the outside.” The salamander responded, trying to calm the tiny creature.

“Oh, thank the Axolotl...” Chulin sighed in relief, clutching his chest like his heart was about to burst.

“We really need to get your anxiety in check, Chewy. Sometime you’re going to have a heart attack just from someone surprising you by accident.” 

Addi looked over at the third creature, a rather strange alien looking creature with multiple horns coming from the top of it’s head. It looked more reptilian than the salamander with it’s slit orange eyes. It had several designs all around it’s red face that looked like a tattoo artist’s fantasy. 

“Oh sh-shut it, M-Maurice!” The rodent smacked the other on one of it’s long arms. He didn’t even flinch. He only chuckled jokingly.

The salamander gave an exasperated sigh and returned to work on Addi’s arm. It was in a splint as the creature started molding a cast around it from some unknown substance. 

“Wh...Where am I?... Who are you?...” Addi’s voice sounded weak and pathetic. 

The salamander wiped what she assumed was blood from her mouth before answering her.

“You are in a cave on an asteroid in the far end of the Nightmare Realm. We are refugees that crashed our mining ship when we were pulled into a wormhole. This dimension is a bit of a crossroads, an area of matter that connects the multiverse together. But we are safe here for now. I am Fontaine. Medic on the mining vessel we used the sail.”

Addi looked around at the small group and felt her eyes grow heavier. 

“Stanford... Where’s Stanford...” 

“Hm? Oh yeah, you were talking about someone with that name the whole way back to camp. You not come here alone?” Maurice got in Adeline’s face with an inquisitive look. She winced at the sudden closeness.

“Maurice, honestly, give this poor female her space. She is still recovering.” Fontaine pushed his companion away forcefully, causing him to fall on his backside wit a thud. The salamander man didn’t seem too amused by horned creature’s goofy grin.

“Sorry, doc. But seriously, who’s this guy you keep talking about?”

“M-Maybe he’s still o-out there with those... those monsters.” Chewy started to shake again.

Addi shook her head, hoping the motion would relax the small furry being.

“N-no... I came here alone... We were testing our portal... We were trying to cross dimensions... Stanford is my friend... He was on the other side...”

The memory of her warning her friend came to mind and Addi reached for her throat, worried there’d be bruises from the dream that felt all too real. Instead, she found a strange collar.

“What the-?” She started trying to take it off.

“W-wait, don’t d-do that. Th-that’s a di-dimensional translator. It’s the only way we c-can all understand each other. O-One of our other crew members owned that one b-but... th-they don’t need it anymore...” Chewy shrank into a ball and sheepishly twiddled his fingers. 

Adeline then saw the other translators on the other members of the group. These creatures must have come from all kinds of different backgrounds and yet they all shared the same fate. They were trapped in a monster’s dimension. She felt sorry for them before realizing she was no different. She was just another refugee trapped in a nightmare. 

“Is there a way to return to my dimension from here? On my own?” Addi found her voice rather quickly.

Fontaine gave her an apologetic look. It made her heart sink.

“Wormholes do open from time to time in and out of this world. They’re far too weak for the demon to leave out of. That is possibly why it recruited your friend to make a much stronger wormhole to a new dimension. From what information we have gathered, this dimension is rotting and falling apart from the inside out. It has no definite laws or physics so it is fated to collapse on itself.”

He said it all with a small smile on his face. 

“The wormholes are enough for a small number of people to go in and out of them. They’re actually how we’ve managed to stay well supplied. Lost things often find their way here. But we have yet to find our own way home. The dimensions they open to are random and change frequently. You could end up in a dimension very different from your own. Or one almost identical with subtle differences. But we’ve found that even in those dimensions, we cannot linger long. If you interact with another version of yourself, it can have destructive consequences.”

“But there IS a chance... There’s a chance I could end up back home?”

Addi’s interruption took Fontaine off guard. She was gripping his sleeve with her good hand, searching for any glimmer of hope in the creature’s eyes. He just smiled softly, like a parent reassuring their child.

“There is a chance. But it’s almost nonexistent. We’ve all come to terms with that. Some come and go. But they have yet to return home. All roads return to here until this dimension is no more. I’m sorry. But you’ll probably never see your home again.”

Addi felt the tears run down her cheeks. She really was trapped there, wasn’t she? Injured and in the company of strangers. She’d never see her home or loved ones again... 

“Oh, quit your sniveling.”

The new voice startled Addi as a figure appeared from the darkness. A tall panther-like creature walked out, it’s tail flicking mindlessly as it starred down emotionlessly with it’s arms crossed in disapproval. The voice was deep yet feminine. 

“How rude. You should not treat my patients in such a manner.” Fontaine gave the newcomer a stern look, unafraid by her glaring green eyes.

“Feeling sorry for yourself will not change the situation. We all know that. No point in babying her about it. The best she can do is heal up and get out of our hair.” 

Adeline frowned angrily at the feline. 

“In this dimension, it’s survival of the fittest. You’re still breathing because you were deemed fit enough to. Whether it be by the Axolotl or some other force. Feeling sorry for yourself will not help your cause. You’re no more special than the rest of us. In fact, you’re even less special. So either toughen up or die. Because we have no time for you and your pathetic whining over your stupid friend.”

Addi tried to get up at that, only to be held down by the doctor.

“Who the heck do you think you are?! What gives you the right to judge me or tell me how to approach my situation?!” Addi was practically screaming at the woman. The feline just stood there unfazed.

“My name is Kahlra. And you are nothing more than a pathetic sniveling human. Worth less than the dirt under my feet. Get in my way and I will not hesitate to kill you. Then you can truly feel sorry for yourself.”

With that, the feline made her way down the cave, vanishing into the darkness without another word. Adeline just glared after her until a small vial of fowl smelling liquid was held up to her.

“Drink this. It will help with the pain and put you to sleep. You need to rest as much as possible while you heal. Please?” Fontaine shook the vial gently as if to coerce Addi into drinking it like a pet. 

She sighed and drank it. It tasted as fowl as it smelled, making her gag as she fought to keep the substance down. 

“Good. Now rest.” He gently pushed her back to her resting place before going to rest by the fire with Chewy and Maurice.

Addi was thankful for the privacy. She didn’t want anyone to see her cry. Adeline closed her eyes and gently fell into her sorrow filled dreams.


End file.
